Luke Brown

Many of you may have heard about Luke. Micah called Monday when he heard. We are so sorry to hear about Luke. Adam Brown said that Luke had found his place in the Army and was being a success there. Luke had grown into a gentle giant of a man. When we came back to Fredericksburg from Albuqerque it was a shock to me how big he was, and when I talked to him he was gentle and had good convictions. He will be missed. We are all praying for his family.

From the Free-lance Star:

Army Pfc. Luke J. Brown loved life and loved people, his older brother said today.

“He could always pick me up when I was down,” Paul said.

Luke Brown, a 27-year-old soldier from Spotsylvania County, was found dead Sunday morning at Fort Bragg, N.C., where he was stationed.

Brown was one of two servicemen with links to the Fredericksburg area to die in the past week. Marine First Lt. Jason Mann was killed when a roof collapsed on him Thursday in Afghanistan.

Brown, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, joined the Army in January 2007.

His brother said today that Brown always joked about his size as a paratrooper: he was 6'3" and 250 pounds.

“He would say he was always the last one out of the plane and the first one down,” Paul Brown said. “He could always make a joke.”

Luke Brown grew up in Spotsylvania and was home-schooled, but was very active in his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

He attended Germanna Community College before he enlisted, Paul Brown said.

Brown had four brothers and a sister who all live in the Fredericksburg area, along with his parents. They're still waiting to learn the cause of death, but they believe it was accidental.

Chris Grey, director of public affairs for the Criminal Investigations Unit at Fort Bragg, said Brown was found dead in a vehicle in a parking lot.

He said an autopsy is under way by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

Grey said the Army is not yet releasing information regarding Brown’s cause of death or other circumstances surrounding the death because it is still under investigation.